In 2015, Menke & Associates, the nation’s premier full service ESOP firm, served as advisor in the design and implementation of an ESOP for Andesa Services, the leading provider of integrated, cloud-based solutions for life insurance and annuity carriers and providers. In 2020, Andesa completed the transition to 100% employee-ownership. And in 2021, Andesa demonstrated their dedication to a strong culture of employee ownership with a slate of events to celebrate Employee Ownership Month.
October is Employee Ownership Month, a time to celebrate the many benefits that employee ownership brings, not only to employee-owners and their businesses, but to the communities in which they live and work.
Andesa held a month-long series of events ranging from educational workshops to virtual games and more. “EO Month is a perfect time to recognize our incredible employee-owners who make our company successful,” said Ron Scheese, Andesa’s President and CEO. “When Andesa elected to transition to an employee-owned, ESOP company, it did so with an awareness of the power of the employee ownership model and out of a commitment to our employees and our clients to live into our Andesa Forever vision.”
Menke Managing Director Phil DeDominicis, who helped design Andesa’s ESOP, stated, “Andesa is one of the many ESOP owned businesses that has truly embraced the employee ownership concept in order to fully engage each of its employees.”
One such engaged employee is Tim Swiezak a Systems Development Manager who was with Andesa before it became employee-owned and has seen how it has changed since the implementation of their ESOP.
“It has been my experience, that if you treat employees like they make a difference, they will do just that,” said Swiezak. “I am proud to be an employee-owner at Andesa, having ownership of an organization makes you dig a little deeper because you understand the benefit of an ESOP and can see the value it brings to our long-term vision.”
ESOPs offer many significant perks to businesses ranging from tax savings to attracting and retaining top talent with a best-in-class benefits package to giving business owners to increased resilience in the face of market volatility. But to get the maximum impact from employee ownership—including boosts to motivation, productivity, and sales—companies need to make it an integral part of their culture. Andesa is a terrific example of a company that has done just that.
Contact us today to discuss what an ESOP could mean for your business, your employees, your customers, and your community.
Menke & Associates, Inc. has helped over 3,500 companies successfully transition to employee ownership. Our holistic ESOP approach enables a positive outcome for the company, its employees and its shareholders. We believe ownership is powerful.